Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Darian Durant cleared to practice

Durant is being eased back into the swing of things as he didn’t take any snaps with the offence on Wednesday but instead was the quarterback for the scout team up against the starting defence. It’s a role usually reserved for say Seth Doege or Keith Price.

Durant didn’t seem to hesitate when throwing on Wednesday and didn’t show any visible signs of pain.

“I was a little nervous the first couple of days I got going. But, it’s starting to come around and it’s starting to feel a lot better,” he said.

Kerry Joseph will still start on Saturday when the Riders host the Eskimos but head coach Corey Chamblin wasn’t ready to say whether Durant would see time during the game or not. Chamblin did suggest on Tuesday if Durant did see the field at all it would be in the second half in a relief role — just to see how he’s doing.

Durant’s activation suggests that remains a possibility. Regardless, the coach is confident that Durant won’t do any more damage to his throwing arm — barring a freak accident.

“We wouldn’t have got to this point if we didn’t think he was medically cleared to do move forward,” said Chamblin.

Chamblin went on to suggest they still have to go over the film from Wednesday’s practice and likely Thursday’s before making a decision on Durant’s status for Saturday.

The time-frame for recovery has been about what Durant expected since he first found out what the injury was in September. Durant actually talked with a number of players from both south and north of the border who have suffered the same torn elbow tendon so he knew exactly what to expect in his recovery.

“It made me feel pretty good about it,” said Durant.

It’s been a struggle for Durant the last number of weeks as the competitor in him wanted to rush things and get back on the field as quick as possible. However, Durant also knew he had to think about his long-term health, not only himself but the franchise going forward as well.

The team has also struggled in his absence, but Durant couldn’t let that persuade him from forcing a return too soon either.

“For me it’s about making sure my career is a long as possible and make sure I’m here for this organization for as long as possible,” said Durant.

“If I go out there on a spur-of-the-moment decision and make a wrong decision and my career is cut short, it makes no sense.”

There’s been a lot of pressure on Durant over the years from the so-called “haters” but he wasn’t prepared to say this proves how important he is to the organization.

“But, at the end of the day, the people who know me and know my importance to the organization, they’ve stood behind me the whole time,” said Durant.

“Those who didn’t, maybe they see it now.”

News and Notes

Offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte returned to practice in his usual left guard spot on Wednesday. Right guard Chris Best and left tackle Levy Adcock did not practice and were replaced by Corey Watman and Xavier Fulton.

There were some changes in the secondary too with defensive back Terrell Maze and Weldon Brown watching from the sidelines.

Anthony Allen and Keith Toston both took reps at running back.

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow

by Joel Gasson

Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Darian Durant cleared to practice

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